New guy from Kansas

Greetings everyone!! I guess the first time I did this part it didn't work, so I'll try again. Full time firefighter, part time driver for most of the last 25 years, getting ready to retire the firetruck and working towards diving more. So far, I have found a ton of useful information here and hope I can add to that knowledge base.

Chris

 

About 13 years ago, they sent us to the intersection of a fairly busy street and a residential street for a driver less car. We got there and it was a scene straight out of cops. Some kid had gotten the keys for a chevy celebrity wagon, put it in drive and hopped out while it drove in circles at a little more than an idle. This intersection is 5 lanes on the main drag and 3 on the intersection, so having room wasn't an issue. Even though it was only a bit over idle, when it goes in a circle like that, it's deceptively fast. We broke the side window and let PD jump through it to stop the car and get it out of the way. They caught the kid who did it a few days later and gave him a fairly expensive ticket. We were reminiscing about that call several months ago.

 

Originally from Newton, live in Hutch now.

 

We decided it was several bored kids and a dare. Hutch is around 40,000 or so. We cover about 108 square miles.

I went on harvest after high school. My first load was a 9600 JD combine from Kansas to El Centro, Ca. and back to the Kansas. Then we went north from here. At the time, it was the biggest combine on the market. 1972 IH cabover, 318 detroit, 13 speed and 22' grain bed. The end gate came out and got tied to the inside of the bed and the header stuck inside with it. I got a short set of directions. "Pull it up to about 2100, ease off and shift, don't push the clutch all the way to the floor when you're rolling." After a few hours driving around the section, we hooked up the trailer and loaded the combine. The next morning we left. I've had the opportunity to do everything from combines to hopper, van, reefer, cattle and flatbed. The last couple years, I've been running my own weld shop and just pick up a load here and there for a couple past employers. Next week I'm going with another customer that runs pneumatics around the state hauling cement. He's willing to train me so when one of his guys needs time off or something, I can cover a few loads. Just adding another tool to my toolbox. I'm willing to do about whatever, they each have their own set of challenges and things I like and don't like.

 

Hauled a lot of grain out of Rozel and cattle from PBI south of Larned. My wife is from Haviland and in laws retired from farming there after last fall's corn harvest.